Plunkett perseverance pays off

2014/Jun/18 23:30:00

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Liam Plunkett's resurgent Test career is heart-warming reward for his own perseverance and his father Alan's selflessness.

Plunkett, set for his second Test in as many weeks against Sri Lanka at Headingley, endured inevitable doubts in the previous seven years as it became increasingly likely he would not add to his nine caps.

It was in the months just before he became surplus to England's requirements, in 2007, that Plunkett had to make one of the biggest - yet, he insists, easiest - decisions of his life.

His dad was spending up to 20 hours a week on a dialysis machine and Plunkett offered to donate one of his own kidneys to help him.

Yet the response was a polite and deeply paternal 'no thank you' - a father's instinct to do the best by his son and give him the chance to continue his career.

It has been a long road since then for Plunkett, before at the age of 29 he was earmarked at the start of England's new Test era as the bowler who could give them the pace and bounce they need in their armoury to beat the world's best teams.

Plunkett does not seek to deflect any of the blame for his drink-driving conviction along the way and accepts his own mistakes too during his descent not just out of the England reckoning but from Durham's first team too.

With his father's well-being uppermost in his mind, Plunkett did not leave Durham until after a donor had been found.

His subsequent move to Yorkshire has brought a dramatic return to form - to the point that he is preparing to turn out on his new home ground for England, with his dad in the crowd, on Friday.

In more stressful times, Plunkett was determined to help his father if he could - and the feeling was mutual.

"I offered him my kidney a while back, and he's had a transplant now so he's healthy," he said.

"But you'd do that at the drop of a hat for your old man, wouldn't you?

"He didn't take one, because I was young and he wanted me to play cricket for as long as I could.

"He wanted me to play for England."

The medium-term outcome for the Plunketts was not a favourable one.

While the search for a donor went on, events on the pitch did not go so well either.

"He was on dialysis for quite a few years," Plunkett said.

"It's just tedious and ties up your life - you can't really go away with your family.

"It's Monday, Wednesday, Friday from 7am till one o'clock.

"But [the donor kidney] came around and it's been massive."

So much so, in fact, that Plunkett's father was not present for his Lord's comeback in the first Investec Test - because he had the new-found freedom to already book a European holiday.

He never told his son he had begun to wonder if those nine Tests might be his lot after all - not until the 10th one arrived, anyway.

Plunkett added: "He said to me on the phone the other day 'I honestly thought you probably wouldn't play for England again'.

"'You've proved me wrong, and I'm over the moon for you'.

"I'm upset that he didn't back me, but ...!"

Plunkett junior admits his self-belief took a few knocks too.

"Yes, I did have doubts," he said.

"I was in Durham seconds ... I used to go back to the hotel and think 'where am I going with this? Why am I not bowling to my full potential? Why am I not getting wickets?'"

He refused to give up, though.

"I just still felt I had a lot more to give," he said.

"I love playing cricket and I didn't want to do anything else.

"I've seen so many people who've played for England and then two years later they're not even in the game.

"I didn't want that to happen to me.

"I never thought about walking away from it, not for one minute."

The key was his switch to Yorkshire, where coach Jason Gillespie helped to restore the confidence he needed.

It was not the former Australia fast bowler, though, who gave him the most memorable nugget of advice.

For that, he has Yorkshire's plain-speaking former England batsman Geoff Boycott to thank.

"I met him when I first signed and he just said 'don't think, just bowl' and walked off," Plunkett said.

"That's all he said to me and I haven't spoken to him since, but it makes sense."

Plunkett no longer has to banish the doubts which used to trouble him.

"[I used to get] to the point where, when you're going to sleep at night, you're thinking about bowling four wides first ball," he added.

"(But) if you do go for four or bowl a wide, it's not the end of the world.

"You could get a wicket next ball. That's what you say to kids, isn't it?

"So why not take that advice yourself?"

:: Investec, the specialist bank and asset manager, is the title sponsor of Test match cricket in England. Visit investec.co.uk/cricket or follow us @InvestecCricket